By Richard Sanchez
Offshore support vessel (OSV) owners are facing slack demand and falling day rates in major marine transportation markets.
Final 7 victims recovered from N.L. helicopter crash
ST. JOHN’S — The remaining seven victims of last week’s helicopter crash off the Newfoundland coast were returned to St. John’s early Tuesday morning, according to the RCMP.
Around 1 a.m., the seven bodies were unloaded from the Atlantic Osprey, a private ship which had led the recovery effort in recent days.
From there, the bodies were taken to a hospital where the province’s chief medical examiner will perform autopsies to determine causes of death.
OGP Safety Alert – Broken deck winch footings
SAFETY ALERT NO. 207: BROKEN DECK WINCH FOOTINGS
Country: null
Location: —
Release Date: —
Time incident occurred: —
Type of Activity: Lifting, crane, rigging, deck operations
Type of Injury: Struck by
Function: null
Applicabale Filter Categories: Struck by,Structural failure (offshore),System/Equipment failure
A vessel had been fitted with two deck winches to assist in diver operations. Both had been subjected to 3rd party load and 3rd party NDT testing on the sea-fastenings just a few days prior to the incident.
While one of the winches was being used to help orientate a load that was being swung out over the side of the vessel, it came off its footings and the short length of flexible air hose connecting it to the LP air ring-main parted, catching the winch operator under the arm and lacerating it severely.
The winch operator very calmly collected burning gear, which had been laid out ready to hand in case of need, and severed the winch wire to prevent the winch going overboard. He then was told to go to the sick-bay for treatment by a deck colleague who came to assist, and was subsequently medivaced to the beach for hospital treatment.
Helicopter crash sparks discussion of safety measures
Last week’s deadly helicopter crash off Newfoundland has renewed discussion about the effectiveness of safety measures in the offshore oil industry.
One person survived and 17 others were killed last Thursday when a Cougar Helicopters aircraft crashed into the ocean about 65 kilometres southeast of St. John’s. The helicopter had been taking workers to offshore oil platforms when it went down.
Glasgow firms win oil rig contracts
Two Glasgow firms have won a multi-million-dollar order for refurbishment work on a huge oil rig that will boost employment and increase confidence in the prospects for the oil services sector.
OP Marine, an offshore fit- out specialist based in Rutherglen, has been appointed to replace the galley and staff rest areas on the MSV Regalia rig, one of 12 owned by Singapore- based Prosafe.
Acergy wins $825M Malay project
Offshore engineering outfit Acergy’s Malaysian business has won an $825 million contract for the development of the deepwater offshore Gumusut-Kakap field, where Shell has awarded TL Offshore the main field contract to SapuraCrest business TL Offshore.
Shell in US bribery probe
Shell has admitted in a public report that it is under investigation for bribery and corruption in the United States.
In its 2008 annual review and summary financial statement, Shell admitted it is facing an investigation. In the report, the company states: “Shell is currently under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”
Wave a gun, get some oil money – Nigeria gives oil stakes to communities to stem militant attacks
NIGERIA — Nigeria, the home to Africa’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, is planning to give local communities stakes in oil projects to stem attacks that have cut the country’s crude exports by more than 20% since 2006. The stakes would come from the government’s holdings, Emmanuel Egbogah, petroleum adviser to President Umaru Yar’Adua, said today in an interview in Cape Town. “We have latitude” to give them a share of projects, he said. “The property will be theirs so they will have no reason” to support further attacks.
IMCA Safety Flash – March 2009
Diver Entrapment
A member has reported in incident wherein a diver became trapped by a water jet weight coat removal (WCR) tool, which he was attempting to secure to a twenty inch subsea pipeline. The WCR tool had been landed directly onto the pipeline, rather than the seabed as had been originally planned. During operations to secure the WCR tool, the tool moved on the pipeline, trapping the diver. An airbag was attached to the WCR tool and inflated to allow the WCR tool to rotate on the pipeline and free the diver. The diver was freed without sustaining any injury.
Dive Bell Gas Loss During Internal Bell Checks
A member has reported that the aft dive bell onboard a dive support vessel suffered a gas loss while pre-dive bell internal checks were being carried out. One diver (the bellman) was carrying out the bell checks while two of his colleagues remained in the compression chamber. During the internal checks, a bell flooding valve was accidentally opened as the diver’s umbilical made contact with it, allowing dive gas to escape from the dive bell.
Crushed Finger
A member has reported an incident during a dive support vessel transit from port to an offshore location, a diver sustained an injury to two fingers of his left hand. The diver was in the aft transfer lock and was holding a chamber door open to allow a colleague to transit between the chamber and transfer lock. When holding the door open, another door in the aft transfer lock swung open, trapping the diver’s fingers between the two doors.
Near-Miss Incident Involving a Diver’s Umbilical
This incident was reported in the UK Association of Diving Contractors (ADC) Safety Alert 3/08 – Very near-miss incident involving a divers umbilical – which was reproduced and circulated to members under IMCA safety flash 15/08 item 4.
Bolt Failures on Lawson ROV Launch and Recovery Systems
A failure of bolts connecting the snubber docking box and sprung frame assembly through the snubber rotate bearing to the raise-lower frame occurred. This allowed these assemblies to separate from the snubber and the latched in TMS and ROV to fall to the deck. No injuries were reported.
To see more details on these IMCA safety flashes, click here.
Bodies recovered from oil rig chopper crash
Nine bodies were recovered from the wreckage of the crashed oil rig helicopter off Canada’s coast of Newfoundland – and police said that recovery efforts would continue on Monday, according to Candanian media.
Those were the latest developments which followed Friday’s frantic search for 16 missing after a heicopter heading for the part StatoilHydro owned Hibernia oil platform hit the freezing waters on Thursday.